Pressemeddelelse

Fra VISTA kommer et nyt billede af Den Store Magellanske Sky

13. september 2019

ESOs VISTA viser os et bemærkelsesværdigt billede af Den Store Magellanske Sky, som er en af de nærmeste naboer til vores Mælkevej. VISTA har optaget billeder af denne galakse og dens søster, Den Lille Magellanske Sky og af deres omgivelser i den detalje, som overgår, hvad der tidligere er gjort. Oversigtsbilledet giver astronomerne mulighed for at observere en mængde stjerner, og det giver så igen mulighed for at studere stjerneudvikling, galaktisk dynamik og variable stjerner.

Den Store Magellanske Sky, (på engelsk Large Magellanic Cloud, forkortet LMC) er en af vore nærmeste nabogalakser. Det er blot 163 000 lysår fra Jorden. Den, og dens søster, Den Lille Magellanske Sky, (på engelsk Small Magellanic Cloud, SMC) er et par af de nærmeste dværgsatellitgalakser til Mælkevejen. I LMC findes også forskellige stjerneansamlinger, og derfor er den det idelle laboratorium, når astronomerne ønsker at studere de processer, som former galakserne.

I det seneste årti har ESOs VISTA teleskop observeret de to galakser. Billedet, som vi offentliggør idag er resultat af et af de mange oversigtsstudier, som er gennemført med dette teleskop. Hovedformålet med VISTA Magellanic Cloud Survey (VMC) har været at kortlægge forløbet af stjernedannelser i begge de to dværggalakser, og desuden deres tredimensionelle struktur.

VISTAs vigtigste indsats i forbindelse med billedet er, at det observerer himlen i nær-infrarødt lys. Det gør det muligt, at se igennem de skyer af støv, som skjuler dele af galaksen. Skyerne blokerer for en stor del af det synlige lys, men de er gennemsigtige i de længere bølgelængder, som VISTA er bygget til at observere i. Som et resultat, er mange flere individuelle stjerner i centeret af galaksen synlige. Astronomerne har analyseret omkring 10 millioner stjerner i LMC i detaljer, og har bestemt deres aldre ved hjælp af frontlinie stjernemodeller[1]. De fandt ud af, at de yngre stjerner fortrinsvis findes i de mange spiralarme i denne galakse.

I årtusinder har de Magellanske Skyer fascineret befolkningerne på Jordens sydlige halvkugle, men de var stort set ukendte for europæerne indtil opdagelsesrejsernes tid. De navn, vi bruger idag stammer fra den opdagelsesrejsende Ferdinand Magellan, som for 500 år siden startede på den første omsejling af Jorden. Ekspeditionen bragte optegnelser tilbage til Europa om mange steder og ting for første gang. Opdagelsernes ånd er endnu mere i live idag i form af det arbejde, som astronomer over hele Verden udfører; herunder VMC Survey holdet, hvis observationer ligger til grund for dette billede.

Noter

[1] Stjernemodeller giver astronomerne mulighed for at forudsige stjernernes liv og død, og giver viden om deres egenskaber, for eksempel aldre, masser og temperatur.

Mere information

De stjerner, som er studeret på billedet bliver gennemgået i artiklen “The VMC Survey - XXXIV. Morphology of Stellar Populations in the Magellanic Clouds”, som publiceres i Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

ESO er den fremmeste fællesnationale astronomiorganisation i Europa, og verdens langt mest produktive jordbaserede astronomiske observatorium. 16 lande er med i ESO: Belgien, Danmark, Finland, Frankrig, Irland, Italien, Nederlandene, Polen, Portugal, Spanien, Sverige, Schweiz, Storbritannien, Tjekkiet, Tyskland og Østrig, og desuden værtsnationen Chile. Australien er med som strategisk partner. ESO har et ambitiøst program, som gør det muligt for astronomer at gøre vigtige videnskabelige opdagelser. Programmet har focus på design, konstruktion og drift af stærke jordbaserede observatorier. Desuden har ESO en ledende rolle i formidling og organisering af samarbejde omkring astronomisk forskning. ESO driver tre enestående observatorier i verdensklasse i Chile: La Silla, Paranal og Chajnantor. På Paranal driver ESO VLT, Very Large Telescope, som er verdens mest avancerede observatorium for synligt lys, samt to oversigtsteleskoper. VISTA, som observerer i infrarødt, er verdens største oversigtsteleskop, og VLT Survey Teleskopet er det største teleskop bygget til at overvåge himlen i synligt lys. ESO er en af de største partnere i ALMA, som er det største eksisterende astronomiprojekt. For tiden bygges ELT, et 39 m optisk og nærinfrarødt teleskop på Cerro Armazones, tæt ved Paranal. Det bliver "verdens største himmeløje".

Links

Kontakter

Maria-Rosa Cioni
Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam (AIP)
Potsdam, Germany
Tel: +49 331 7499 651
E-mail: mcioni@aip.de

Mariya Lyubenova
ESO Head of Media Relations
Garching bei München, Germany
Tel: +49 89 3200 6188
E-mail: pio@eso.org

Ole J. Knudsen (Pressekontakt Danmark)
ESOs formidlingsnetværk og Aarhus Space Centre, Aarhus Universitet
Aarhus, Danmark
Tel: +45 8715 5597
E-mail: eson-denmark@eso.org

Connect with ESO on social media

Dette er en oversættelse af ESO pressemeddelelse eso1914 lavet af ESON - et netværk af personer i ESOs medlemslande, der er kontaktpunkter for medierne i forbindelse med ESO nyheder, pressemeddelelser mm.

Om pressemeddelelsen

Pressemeddelelse nr.:eso1914da
Navn:Large Magellanic Cloud
Type:Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Irregular
Facility:Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy
Instruments:VIRCAM
Science data:2019MNRAS.490.1076E

Billeder

VISTA viser den Store Magellanske Sky
VISTA viser den Store Magellanske Sky
Highlights i den Store Magellanske Sky
Highlights i den Store Magellanske Sky
Large Magellanic Cloud
Large Magellanic Cloud
tekst kun tilgængelig på engelsk

Videoer

ESOcast 206 Light: VISTA Unveils the Large Magellanic Cloud (4K UHD)
ESOcast 206 Light: VISTA Unveils the Large Magellanic Cloud (4K UHD)
tekst kun tilgængelig på engelsk
Zooming on the Large Magellanic Cloud
Zooming on the Large Magellanic Cloud
tekst kun tilgængelig på engelsk
Comparison of the Large Magellanic Cloud in infrared and visible light
Comparison of the Large Magellanic Cloud in infrared and visible light
tekst kun tilgængelig på engelsk
Comparison of the Tarantula nebula in infrared and visible light
Comparison of the Tarantula nebula in infrared and visible light
tekst kun tilgængelig på engelsk
Panning across the Large Magellanic Cloud
Panning across the Large Magellanic Cloud
tekst kun tilgængelig på engelsk

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